A Careful Look At The Lottery Rhetorical Analysis

Many people consider “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson one of the best stories of the twentieth century. It is a compelling story that raises many questions and uses symbolism and metaphors to get its point across. Elton Gahr goes into great detail of these literary devices in his article “A Careful Look at The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.” Gahr begins by explaining foreshadowing. He explains that Jackson begins foreshadowing as early as the second paragraph. These details are key to the stories ending and “Most readers will miss the significance of those actions because they don’t understand them, but it makes the end of the story a realization rather than a surprise.” Gahr then goes into the themes of the story. One of the biggest themes being

the tradition surrounding the lottery. He explores the possibilities behind the reason of the lottery and why the town is partaking in it. After exploring the themes, he comes to the conclusion that “The reasons for the lottery is one of the most important themes of this story, because the fact that the people of the town don’t know the reason for the lottery is vital to the point that the story is trying to make.”
Another topic Gahr touches on is the irony behind the story. Halfway through the story there is mention of other towns not performing the lottery anymore. This is followed up by two elder men mentioning living in caves. Gahr then explains how the reader seeing this act of being uncivilized is important to the general idea of the story. But the most important part of “The Lottery” is in its symbols. Not only is the unquestioned tradition of The Lottery an important symbol, but the actual method of execution can be seen as one. Stoning is a community effort and it makes it clear that it is “The society, and not an individual, that is the protagonist.”